Dictation teaching aid



Original Filed June 4, 1964 Mw vw V INVENTOR. Lou/5 W CULMONE W/MZMATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,281,968 DICTATION TEACHING All) LouisW. Culmone, Rockaway, NJ., assigner to Lustro Watch Incorporated, acorporation of New Jersey Continuation of abandoned application Ser. No.372,592, June 4, 1964. This application Jan. 26, 1966, Ser. No.

9 Claims. (Cl. 35--35) My invention relates to shorthand and stenotypingand more particularly to the teaching thereof. This applica-- thematerial is usually divided into groups composed of' twenty-eightshorthand signs or syllables, or, as often loosely characterized, twentystandard shorthand words per group. Thus, groups totaling a selectednumber of words may be chosen and dictated at a speed deemed by theinstructor to terminate the dictation lat the end of a preselected timespan.

Unfortunately, this practice is frequently unsatisfactory because theactual dictating speed may be such that the dictation Will terminatebefore or after Ithe end of a time span. In attempts to overcomeinaccuracy of this type, some instructors employ a stop watch having asingle scale graduated in seconds and fractions thereof for checking thespeed of dictation at various intervals during the time `span to enablethem to compute by the single scale the elapsed time of the dictationand subtract the same from the time span, while still dictating, inorder that the speed of the dictation'may be changed, if necessary, tofinish the dictation Vat the end of the time span. This mathematicalindulgence often confuses an instructor to the extent that it preventsfull concentration on the material and clear enunciation of the wordsbeing dictated, interferes with the cadence of the dictation, and tendsto effect deceleration of dictation. Having then fallen behind, theinstructor must accelerate his dictation rate to catch up. Thisdeceleration and acceleration causes a sporadic dictation rate.

My invention overcomes the foregoing unsatisfactory results anddisadvantages, it being one ofthe objects therevof to provide means forindicating the elapsed time of dictation of each of the groups dictatedwithout resort to computation thereby enabling lthe instructor withoutdistraction to readily adjust the dictating speed to one whereby thedictation will terminate at the end of the selected time span.

Another object of my invention is to provide timing means in combinationwith dictating material and which timing means denotes the elapsed timeof dictation at various speeds within a definite time span.

Another object of my invention is to provide a dial for use inconjunction with a stop watch or the like and which ldial is providedwith a plurality of different elapsed time ice porated within stopwatches without modification of the movements thereof.

With the above and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear,the invention consists in'the combination and arrangement of par-tshereinafter set forth an-d illustrated in the accompanying drawings fromwhich the several features of the invention and the advantages attainedthereby will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

Referring to Ithe drawings wherein like reference characters designatelike parts throughout the several views:

FIGURE l is a face View of a stop watch equipped with my novel form ofdial;

FIGURE 2 is an end elevation of the dial; and

FIGURE 3 is a diagrammatic plan view of a member containing dictatingmaterial.

In practicing my invention, as illustrated in the drawing, I provide atiming device, for instance, a stop watch 10 having a horological dial11 and which watch is equipped with the usual second hand 12 forcircular movement about the face of the dial 11. The watch is equippedwith a crown 13 for winding the watch and to effect starting, stopping,and return of the second hand 12 to its zero or starting position 14relative to the dial.

In the present instance, the face of the dial 11 is provided with afourfold of circular zones or bands 15, 16, 17, and 18, respectively,disposed one within another in circumjacent and progressive relationoutwardly and which bands may be of contrasting colors including blackand/ or white. The face of the dial 11 is provided about the outerperiphery of the outermost band 18 with a scale 19 graduated to definesixty seconds of time per minute, the zero or starting position 14- ofthe hand 12 being at the mark indicated by the numeral sixty of thescale 1,9.

Each of the bands are graduated to indicate, by scale marks and numerals20, theV groups and tota-l number of word chosen for dictation Within -atime span of one minute. In this connection it will be noted that thebands 15, 16, 17, and 18 are divided by `the marks 20 into periods todenote three, four, five, and vsix groups of twenty standard words eachfor a total of sixty, eighty, one hundred, and one hundred twentystandard Words per minute, respectively.

The dictating material or indicia 23 is prin-ted or otherwise depictedon the Imember 24 shown in FIGURE 3 and which material is `divided intothe aforementioned groups of twenty standard words with theparenthesized numerals indicating the end and total number of the groupsemployed. The member 24 may constitute a card, page of an instructionmanual, or other suitable media on which the material is printed.Inasmuch as the dictating material 2,3 is diagrammatica-lly depicted onthe member 24 of FIGURE 3, it is, in the interest of clarity, set forthin detail as follows:

yDear Dick: In our talk several days ago you mentioned that you weregoing to send in your tax blank even though (l) you were not certainwhether you should include or omitv a few items. I think, Dick, that youwould be making a (2) mistake.

I did not have an opportunity to discuss this with you at the time; so Iam writing you this (3) brief note. I am inclined to feel, frankly, thatyou would save yourself much trouble by seeing a good lawyer or (4)accountant. Do not depend on your own solution of problems about whichyou are puzzled.

Postpone sending in the (5) return ifor a day or so. As long as yourreturn is postmarked April 15, it will be on time.

If you want a (i6) good, practical lawyer, may I suggest my friend, JohnFox, who transacts my legal business and supervises my (7) affairs ingeneral. He is an authority on tax matters. He will be able to tell youin a matter (8) of minutes what items you should include and what itemsyou may deduct. Very sincerely, yours, (9)

In use, assuming by way of example, that it is desired to dictatematerial at a speed of eighty standard words per minute, the instructorselects four groups of the words for dictation from the member 24together with the band 16 of the dial for observation and then initiatesstarting of the second hand 12 simultaneously with the commencing of thedictation. As the dictation progresses, the instructor observes theposition of t-he second 4hand with respect to the band 16 for indicatingthe elapsed time of each group dictated thereby enabling the instructorto vary the speed of dictation, if necessary, for termination at the endof the time span of sixty seconds or one minute without resort to theheretofore mentioned distracting computation. Obviously, my novel formof dial permits an instructor to dictate .a preselected amount ofdictating material at a substantially constant speed to te-rminate atthe end of a preselected time span.

Without further elaboration, the foregoing will so fully explain t-heinvention that others may, by applying current knowledge, readily ada-ptthe same for use under various conditions of service. Moreover, it isnot indispensable that all the features of the invention be usedconjointly since they may be employed advantageously in variouscombinations and subcombinations.

It is obvious that the invention is not conned solely to the use hereindisclosed in connection therewith as it may be utilized yfo-r anypurpose to which it is adaptable. It is therefore to be understood lthatthe invention is not limited to the specific construction as illustratedand described, as the same is only illustrative of the prin-` ciplesinvolved which are capable of extended application in various forms, andthe invention comprehends all construction within the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. A teaching aid comprising in combination with dictating materialdivided into substantially equal groups of words, each of said groupshaving a character indicating the end of a Ilgroup and located at theend of said group, means for enabling dictation of said material at apreselected average -rate, said means comprising a stop-watch includinga dial and a second hand, said dial having a plurality of concentriccircular bands thereon, each of said bands having graduations drawn to adifferent scale to enable dictation at a different preselected averagerate, each of said bands having identifying indicia to indicate thedictation rate that said band will enable the graduations on each o fsaid bands corresponding to said end of group characters, a preselectedaverage dictation -rate being maintained by controlling dictation sothat the end of group characters are reached during dictation as saidsecond hand passes adjacent the graduations on the single bandcorresponding to said preselected average rate.

2. The invention of claim'l wherein said bands are of contrasting colorsso that a selected band may be readily distinguished.

3. The invention of claim 1 wherein all of the graduations ion each ofsaid bands are like the identifying indicia so that the selected bandmay be readily distinguished.

4. Dictation pacing means comprising in combination with dictationmaterial divided into equal tgroups of words, said groups beingseparated by end of group identifying indicia, a stop-watch including adial and a second hand, said dial having a plurality of circular bandsthereon, each of said bands having graduations drawn to a differentscale to enable dictation at a different preselected average rate, thegraduations on each of said bands corresponding to said end of groupidentifying indicia so that the reader of said dictation material ispaced to dictate at a preselected average rate by observing apreselected one of said bands in accordance with the selected dictationrate and increasing the rate of dictation if said end of groupidentifying indicia is reached after said second hand has passed agraduation and decreasing the rate of dictation if said end of groupidentifying indicia is reached prior to said second hand Ihaving reachedthe next graduation.

5. The invention of claim 4 wherein eac-h of said bands -haveidentifying indicia to indicate the average speed that said band willenable.

6. The invention of claim 5 wherein the number of said graduations oneach of said bands equals the number of said word groups that should bedictated in the period of a complete revolution of said second hand inaccordance with the average speed that said bands wi-ll enable.

7. The invention of claim 6 wherein lall of said graduations on a bandare comprised of numerals like the identifyingindicia of said band.

8. The invention of claim 7 wherein said second 4hand makes a completerevolution in one minute and said identifying indicia and graduations onsaid band are in units indicating the number of words per minute.

9. The invention of claim 5 wherein said bands are of contrasting colorsso that lthe selected band may be readily distinguished frorntheremaining bands on said dial.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,572,884 2/1926Colvin. 3,111,003 11/1963 Droz 58-126 3,239,950 3/1966 Conry 35-35 OTHERREFERENCES Minerva Catal-og No. 261, iDucomm'un Co., -N.Y., page `6(received in U.S. vPatent Ofce Scientic Library, April 15, 1961).

EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner.

W. GRIEB, Assistant Examiner,

1. A TEACHING AID COMPRISING IN COMBINATION WITH DICTATING MATERIALDIVIDED INTO SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL GROUPS OF WORDS, EACH OF SAID GROUPSHAVING A CHARACTER INDICATING THE END OF A GROUP AND LOCATED AT THE ENDOF SAID GROUP, MEANS FOR ENABLING DICTATION OF SAID MATERIAL AT APRESELECTED AVERAGE RATE, SAID MEANS COMPRISING A STOP-WATCH INCLUDING ADIAL AND A SECOND HAND, SAID DIAL HAVING A PLURALITY OF CONCENTRICCIRCULAR BANDS THEREON, EACH OF SAID BANDS HAVING GRADUATIONS DRAWN TO ADIFFERENT SCALE TO ENABLE DICTATION AT A DIFFERENT PRESELECTED AVERAGERATE, EACH OF SAID BANDS HAVING IDENTIFYING INDICIA TO INDICATE THEDICTATION RATE THAT SAID BAND WILL ENABLE THE GRADUATIONS ON EACH OFSAID BANDS CORRESPONDING TO SAID END OF GROUP CHARACTERS, A PRESELECTEDAVERAGE DICTATION RATE